Monday, April 30, 2007

we learned two days ago that the survey of the property hasn't been done yet, and we can't close without that, so we are delayed. possibly 2-3 weeks. ugh. we're all in the process of packing and working out logistics, and an indefinite delay makes planning pretty difficult. we were briefly considering renting the house from the current owner until we close, but that's not a possibility, so we're scrambling to figure out housing/packing while we wait for a new closing date. thabo's doing lots of phone calling with the attorney, mortgage guy, title people, etc. to try and get things sped up.

good news: the menno house has given us two big flower boxes that will help provide some instant green until we can really get to work on the backyard and planting (which might not be for a while). always good for the spirit to have some plants around. thanks lowell, for the boxes.

and, we found a pretty good quote for homeowner's insurance, so that's in the works.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

we're less than one week away from closing on the house! this week, we're working on securing homeowner's insurance, which we have to have in order to close. thabo and i have been calling around for quotes, trying to get recommendations, etc. i'm learning about flood zones, oil tanks, and fences, and how they affect rates.thabo also talked to a reference for the architect, who gave glowing comments all around. hopefully, we'll be able to get the architect in fairly quickly in order to start drawings on our renovation plans.one of the big headaches in nyc, is that just about everything that we do requires a permit first. and the permits take time, and it's not that clear how to get them all the time, so we need to at least have professional advise. since everything needs a permit, we have to make sure we're on top of it, or the work will have to slow down.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

so, this is the first post chronicling this adventure that we're embarking on together. in a nutshell, we (dan and cindy, thabo and melissa) are buying a home in brooklyn. together. we're planning to move in, renovate, rent out part of it, and live in the rest. here's what the house looks like.

that's cindy standing in front of the house.

and a picture of the back of the house.it needs a lot of work.

currently, we're waiting on the official closing of the house, which is supposed to happen at the end of the month (realtor and mortgage guy tell us we're on track). yesterday, we met with a prospective architect and electrician and they walked through the place with us. i eyeballed the basement as a prospective music room... then, we got tea at a coffeeshop and looked through some of the architect's previous work. we also talked about moving plans, and what it will feel like to actually walk into the place when it's officially ours. we made tentative plans to celebrate on closing day by knocking down an added wall on the parlour floor, to open up temporary bedroom space for one couple to sleep in while we do work on the rest of the building. i think we're all pretty excited at this point, and trying to do our best to plan for a summer of cramped living (we'll share space for a while), and lots of dirty work.-dan.